Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday delivered his longest Independence Day speech to date, speaking for 98 minutes. His speech was also the longest by comparison with any PM in the history of India.
Besides, Modi who sported a multicoloured Rajasthani leheriya print turban with white kurta and churidar, also broke the record of his immediate predecessor Manmohan Singh by hoisting the national flag from the ramparts of the Red Fort for the 11th consecutive time. With this, Modi has become the Prime Minister to hoist the Tricolour for the third highest time. The record lies with first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru who got the honour 17 times from 1947 to 1964.
Prior to this, Modi’s longest Independence Day speech lasted 96 minutes in 2016.
In contrast, his briefest address was in 2017, spanning approximately 56 minutes. His longest I-day speech before Thursday was 96 minutes in 2016 while his shortest speech was in 2017 when he spoke for around 56 minutes. On the 78th Independence Day, Modi also became the prime minister to hoist the tricolour on Independence Day and deliver a speech for the third highest time. Modi delivered his first Independence Day speech in 2014, which lasted for 65 minutes.
His speech in 2015 lasted for about 88 minutes. This was Modi’s 11th address as PM and his first after taking charge for a third term. In 2018, Modi addressed from the ramparts of the Red Fort for 83 minutes. Subsequently, in 2019, he spoke for nearly 92 minutes, which was his second-longest to date. In 2020 Modi’s I-day address lasted for 90 minutes. Before Modi, Jawaharlal Nehru in 1947 and IK Gujral in 1997 had the longest speeches at 72 and 71 minutes, respectively.
Besides, PM Modi broke the record of his immediate predecessor Manmohan Singh by hoisting the national flag from the ramparts of the Red Fort for the 11th consecutive time.
Indira Gandhi holds the record of hoisting the national flag for the second highest time. She did so 16 times, just one short of her father’s record. However, this was done in two different stints from 1966-1977 and 1980-1984. Manmohan Singh, who was prime minister of the Congress-led UPA government for 10 years, hoisted the national flag 10 times between 2004 and 2014.
Of India’s 15 prime ministers, Gulzarilal Nanda and Chandra Shekhar were the only ones who did not get a chance to hoist the tricolour even once. Chandra Shekhar, who became the first prime minister of India to head a coalition government at the centre, held the top post from November 1990 to June 1991. Nanda, India’s second prime minister, served the nation for two brief terms---May 27-June 9, 1964 and January 11-24, 1966.
At fifth spot is Atal Bihari Vajpayee, prime minister for 13 days in 1996 and two incomplete terms from 1998 to 2004, with six times. Vajpayee is followed by Rajiv Gandhi, who became the youngest prime minister of India and served for a single term from 1984 to 1989. He hoisted the tricolour five times. His record was equalled by another Congress PM, P V Narasimha Rao, who served as PM for a single term from 1991 to 1996. Lal Bahadur Shastri and Morarji Desai hoisted the flag two times each. Shastri was prime minister from June 1964 to January 1966. He is credited with leading India to victory in the India-Pakistan war of 1965.
Desai served as prime minister for two years from 1977 to 1979. Four PMs – Charan Singh, V P Singh, H D Deve Gowda and IK Gujral – hoisted the flag once each.
Charan Singh served as prime minister of India for 170 days between July 1979 and January 1980 and V P Singh from 1989 to 1990. Deve Gowda was prime minister for slightly less than a year, June 1996 to April 1997. Gujral, too, was prime minister for slightly less than a year (April 1997 to March 1998).
